


Welcome Home

by Tinamour



Category: Greek and Roman Mythology
Genre: F/M, Home, Underworld, Welcome, pomegranate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2017-10-30
Packaged: 2019-01-26 20:43:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12565808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tinamour/pseuds/Tinamour
Summary: Written for the comment fic prompt: "Greek Myth, Persephone/Hades, Hades takes Cerebus to meet his bride as she descends"





	Welcome Home

Cerberus whimpers as Hades walks by.

Normally, the Guardian Hound would be growling fiercely, showing its teeth to the newly arrived souls and snapping its jaws at those foolish enough to try and escape the Underworld.

But today is a day of rejoicing.

The souls walking the Earth know it, and so do those who now wander across Hades’ Realms.

Only one person will descend today, only two feet will touch the steps that lead to the banks of the Styx and cross it.

Everyone felt it. It spread like a wave, shattering the very core of the Earth and shaking the grass of the Asphodel Meadows. Every soul grew silent, listening to Demeter’s deafening grief as she already mourned her daughter. Hades felt the chill of the wind, the promise of the frosting kiss of snow on the crops that the Goddess gave to the Men only to take it back. If she loses something she cherishes, so must they.

Hades almost pities them. Almost.

Cerberus nudges his hand with one head, the two others whining a complaint while looking at him with saddened eyes.

“You missed her too, didn’t you?” he asks, patting the damp muzzle.

The Hound whimpers again, as if in agreement.

Hades sighs.

Today is a day of joy, for the Underworld welcomes back its Queen.

Why would one soul be denied the merriment?

Cerberus strides by Hades’ side, wagging its tail and panting joyfully. Their steps echo in the dark and wide caverns, the steps of the God light and determined while the Hound’s claws click sharply on the stone. Hades enjoy the calm of his Realms, so much quieter than his brothers’.

Suddenly, the Hound barks and darts forward. Hades stops. And smiles.

She is here.

Her skin and hair as dark as the soil her mother loves so much, she treads quietly down the steps, her head held high. Her mask of majesty vanishes as she beholds the Hound running towards her. She throws her arms around as many heads as she can, laughing as too many tongues lick her as welcome.

He forgot how her laugh sounded. How could he forget that?

He should take offence that she didn’t greet him first, but how can he feel slighted in the smallest when the woman he loves seems so happy?

She finally pushes the Hound away, as gently as she would a child, and their eyes meet.

Hades bows his head. He will kneel before her, as she deserves, but not here. Later, in the privacy of their bedchambers.

“Husband.”

Her voice is sweet as the flowers her mother grows on the surface. She walks up to him and he kisses her hand. She smells of pomegranate.

He caresses her hair and takes from it the last bright summer flower that still lingers there. They both watch as it falls to the ground. And they both smile when Cerberus catches it with one head.

The Hound playfully nudges Persephone’s hand and it says what Hades has been waiting to say for months.

“Welcome home.”


End file.
